Nepal is a very popular among travellers for its innumerable tourist destinations. Those who plan to visit Nepal needs to know certain facts about it. To get a mobile sim in Nepal, u will have to show your passport. Also keep a few passport size photographs handy. It’s always advisable to buy a sim as soon as u enter the borders of Nepal. Call charge is much cheaper than India. The vehicle in which you are travelling should have all documents including a driving licence. Get a permit for the number of days you plan to stay there from the ‘BENSAR’ office at all check posts at the borders. You have to pay Nepali rupees 500 for cars, 100 for bikes for each day. If you are caught without a helmet or expired permit, you may have to pay a hefty fine. So, be careful. Buy permit for the exact days you have planned to stay in Nepal. If you pay 100 Nepali rupees, the agents will do all the paper works for you. Once you get the permit, it is easy to move around with not much expense. Always take a permit with an extra day than your stay. Also remember to check the dates on it which are written in Nepali language. Ask someone and make sure about the date and validity. Make sure by enquiring with the police who check the permit.
These permits can be got on all days between 6 am and 6pm except government holidays. On Saturdays, which are public holidays in Nepal some of the border offices issue permits only in the morning. Sunday is a working day though. If a situation where you have to extend your stay in Nepal, remember to renew the permit at least one day before it expires. If you plan to climb the difficult mountain terrains, you will have to get an inner line permit for the vehicle as well as the traveller. This permit is not provided at the borders. Instead you have to get them from the tourist offices at Kathmandu, Pokhara and other towns. Nepal has places which lie 80 metres to 8848 metres above sea level. 25% of the land is lowland plains. Locals live in areas even 5000 metres above sea level. To reach the Nepali border, either take Ghorakhpur railway station which lies 75km away or Raxaul railway station which is just 1km away. Once you reach there, you can avail cycle rickshaw, horse cart, share- auto or even walk to cross the border. Once you have crossed the border, reach the bus stand. Buses, share-taxi, tempo, Tata Sumo are the various modes for travel. Vehicles to all important routes ply from here. The main towns have restaurants which provide many types of cuisine. Like us, Nepalis too love to eat rice. The curry tastes different because they use mustard oil for cooking. We can also taste popular nepali food like chow mein noodles, momo (chicken dumplings) and sweet dishes too. In the countryside, while travelling to the hilly regions , it’s always better to carry food like bread or biscuits . The snowy mountains and hills do not have any roads going up. Trekking routes which lasts for 5 to 14 days are provided. At some of these peaks, you may get to see fascinating view of the place for a long distance below. Places like Pokhara has mountains which experience massive snow slide.
There are four types of tourism here. 1. Pilgrim 2. Adventure (trekking, rafting etc.),3) Nature 4) wild life. People come here to enjoy the breath-taking beauty of the Himalayas, others to visit the temples like Pasupathinath temple, Manokamna temple and places like Mukthinath , Sita Janmbhumi in search of spiritual truth. For the adventurous ones Nepal provides Himalayan trekking, bungy jumping, rafting and other sport activities. The wild life lovers can visit Parsa wild life reserve, Chitwan Nation Park and many other forests to enjoy watching the wild life. You can avail small planes to get an aerial view of the Everest by paying a fee of INR.5000. Everest base camp trekking is however costly. It can cost up to 1 lakh rupees for the camp and 1.5 lakhs to use a helicopter. Always carry thick woollen clothes during winter and light woollen clothes during summer season. But low lying lads are not extremely cold. So carry jackets and sweaters to wear. Touirsts planning to visit Nepal by air, can avail direct flights from Delhi, Bangalore and so on. People travelling from Kerala by train can avail the Rapthi Sagar express which will take you to the Gorakhpur railway station. There is another train to Gorakhpur from Chennai too. Nepal is the ideal place for Himalayan trekking. The most popular trekking includes the Himalayan base camp and the Annapurna camp. Always remember to book through agencies which provide helicopter rescue service in case of medical emergency.
